Colorado River seen as depleting regional resource

FILE - This March 5, 2008 file photo shows the Colorado River's Horseshoe Bend, in Page, Ariz. Rising demand and falling supply is spurring talk in the arid West of outside-the-box solutions like piping water from the nation's heartland and towing Arctic icebergs south to help thirsty U.S. cities like Denver, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Phoenix that are currently dependent on the Colorado River. Faced with ongoing drought, federal officials and water agency representatives from seven states and 40 million people that depend on the Colorado River have produced a report to be released at a three-day Colorado River Water Users Association conference in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)
— AP

FILE - This March 5, 2008 file photo shows the Colorado River's Horseshoe Bend, in Page, Ariz. Rising demand and falling supply is spurring talk in the arid West of outside-the-box solutions like piping water from the nation's heartland and towing Arctic icebergs south to help thirsty U.S. cities like Denver, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Phoenix that are currently dependent on the Colorado River. Faced with ongoing drought, federal officials and water agency representatives from seven states and 40 million people that depend on the Colorado River have produced a report to be released at a three-day Colorado River Water Users Association conference in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)
/ AP

"States cooked the books to show higher demand for water consumption to set up a federal bailout on expensive water projects," said Molly Mugglestone, director of the advocacy group Protect the Flows.

But Anne Castle, assistant Interior secretary for water and science, said the data came from the best experts, science information available. And Carly Jerla, a federal Bureau of Reclamation analyst, told reporters the range of future growth scenarios went from a small increase to doubling the regional population.

Another advocacy group, the Environmental Defense Fund, was measured in its assessment.

"The Colorado River is the lifeblood of the dry West," said Dan Grossman, an official with the Boulder, Colo.-based organization. "We can't keep bleeding the river dry. The basin study says loud and clear that it's time for a new approach that puts conservation first."

The report considered almost 160 suggestions, Brothers said.

Salazar bluntly dismissed proposals like the multi-billion dollar pipeline running some 670 miles from the Missouri River to Colorado. Tapping the Mississippi, Green, Bear, Snake, Yellowstone and Columbia rivers also made a list of options that Bureau of Reclamation spokesman Kip White said weren't currently getting serious consideration.

But Salazar left open the discussion about eliminating thirsty invasive but prolific plants like tamarisk, capping reservoirs and irrigation canals to reduce evaporation, and desalting seawater.

Salazar noted that the federal government already operates a desalination plant near Yuma, Ariz., to treat saline agricultural irrigation water as it returns to the river.

The report also cites the possibility of entities increasing cooperation to swap water credits and "bank" the valuable resource.

Advocates on all sides seized on elements of the 163-page report to bolster their positions.

Boulder, Colo.-based Western Resource Advocates said the study should quickly spur states "to press the `go' button" on conservation, reuse and efficiency measures.

"While this is a critical issue for Colorado, we have time to approach solutions thoughtfully," he said.

In Wyoming, the Family Farm Alliance pointed to the implications for food production in study estimates that irrigated acreage in the Colorado River basin will decrease by 2060.

"Policy makers and Colorado River stakeholders must understand the critical implications of taking 6 to 15 percent of existing irrigated agriculture out of production," alliance President Patrick O'Toole said.

In Las Vegas, regional water chief Pat Mulroy at the Southern Nevada Water Authority, said she was more worried about a drier climate becoming permanent than about the ability of interdependent and river-dependent entities to work together.

"You can't conserve your way out of drought," she said.

Matt Niemerski, with the Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group American Rivers, said climate change and population growth in the region make status-quo management of Colorado River water resources "untenable."

"This is the start of the conversation," Niemerski said, "about how the tens of millions of people who depend on the river for water are ultimately going to be able to live there."